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Lukaku Struggling Defensively And Other Things Learnt From Boxing Day Rounds

Substitute Jesse Lingard came to Manchester United's rescue as his second-half double secured a 2-2 Boxing Day draw with Burnley at...

Substitute Jesse Lingard came to Manchester United's rescue as his second-half double secured a 2-2 Boxing Day draw with Burnley at Old Trafford.

Third-placed Chelsea are a point behind United after the champions defeated Brighton 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Alvaro Morata registered his 10th league goal of the season with a header in the opening minute of the second half and Marcos Alonso added another on the hour mark.

Harry Kane make history as Tottenham thrashed Southampton 5-2 at Wembley. The England striker set a new record for Premier League goals in a calendar year, with his hat-trick taking him to 39 in 36 appearances in 2017.

And Man City opened up a 15 point lead by beating Newcastle 1-0 at the Tyne, with not much ado here are the things we learnt from the Premier League this weekend.

Sterling Blossoming In New Role.

Raheem Sterling's goalscoring form has long ago ceased to be just a quirk, or a by-product of simply being in attacking positions in a supremely attacking side.

The former Liverpool man - who was used as a centre-forward for a period by Brendan Rodgers during his time at Anfield - is now demonstrating the instincts and finishing of a true striker.

For the winner here he simply forced the ball to go over the line, simply jabbing at Kevin De Bruyne's astute pass (shock!) and almost willing it in.

Lukaku Culprit At Back End

Romelu Lukaku was culpable for both of Manchester City's goals in United's 2-1 derby defeat earlier this month, and was at fault again for Burnley's opener.

Lukaku got himself into a tangle trying to clear the ball, allowing Ashley Barnes to seize on it and steer the ball into the net.

Given Lukaku is such a liability in his own area, it might make sense for Mourinho to put him upfield for set-pieces, rather than deploying him to defend his own goal, a task he struggles to carry out.

Swansea Need New Coach

When Roy Hodgson took charge of Crystal Palace earlier this season they were rock-bottom of the Premier League.

They had neither scored a goal nor picked up a single point. Now, though, Palace are 16th in the table and are unbeaten in their last eight games.

What this tells us is that there is no such thing as a hopeless case in the English top flight. This Swansea side, however, are pushing that theory to the limit.

The current squad is lacking both talent and depth — and Leon Britton, for all his qualities, is not the answer to their managerial crisis. With so many of the obvious coaches gainfully employed elsewhere, the Swansea board will have to be imaginative with their appointment. They also need to be quick.

Big Sam Works Magic

Everton's goalless draw at West Brom was hardly a thriller but it meant the Merseyside outfit have now gone six league matches unbeaten following Sam Allardyce's appointment as their manager - a sequence in which the defensive record has been particularly impressive.

The one secured at the Hawthorns was a fourth clean sheet in the six games, and there was only one goal conceded in each of the other two outings.

Kane In World Class Conversations

Harry Kane just seems to get better and better. The Golden Boot winner for the last two seasons set a new record for Premier League goals in a calendar year as Tottenham beat Southampton 5-2 at Wembley, scoring three times to take his tally to 39 in 36 appearances in 2017.

He went into the game joint-top of the list with Alan Shearer - scorer of 36 goals in 42 matches in 1995 - having also netted a hat-trick three days earlier against Burnley, and it is six league trebles in total for Kane over the year.

Now it rightly ends the conversation as to if the star is World Class, with the Spurs striker finishing the year above Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, a feat in which rival manager Arsene Wenger said he could not have predicted.